London Podcast Festival comes to King’s Cross

If Laugh Out London were to write a list of all of its favourite ever things, right up there at the top (just ahead of Irn Bru and cat videos) would be live comedy and comedy podcasts.

Well, joy of joys, a festival is coming to King’s Cross, London that combines those two precious artforms, with King’s Place hosting a week-long festival of live podcasts (comedy and otherwise).

The London Podcast Festival takes place from Sept 13-17 and features loads of our favourite downloads putting on live shows in front of an audience.

A few dates are sold out already, but here are some of our recommendations for shows to see. Also, a wee tip – try and book tickets at the venue as King’s Place has an insane £3 booking fee for tickets bought online. INSANE!

Any British comedy lover knows (and loves) the work of Adam Buxton and his partner Joe Cornish, from going through Mark E Smith’s record collection on Adam and Joe on Channel 4 to the glory days of Saturday mornings on 6 Music.

That partnership now sadly seems to be on something of a hiatus, but it has also allowed Adam to flourish in the podcasting world one a show that sees Dr Buckles take a leaf from Marc Maron’s book and interview some of the funniest and most creative people in the world. Highlights so far have included Michael Palin, Brian Eno and Sharon Horgan. Guest details have not been released for this show, but the presence of Buxton himself makes this an essential one to see at the festival.

A relatively new podcast starring Edinburgh Fringe Best Show winner 2011 and master improviser Adam Riches, The Pod of Maximum Damage is the ultimate fan-fronted podcast guide to everyone’s favourite fantasy show The Sword of Maximum Damage. Previous guests have included Pippa Evans, John Kearns and Tom Parry, all of whom have stepped into the shows of the many weirdos that are involved in the making of this modern cable classic.

Another relatively newbie, David Reed assumes the role of Stuart Goldsmith or Marc Maron to delve into the minds of various comedians. And we mean REALLY deep. Deeper than the complete works of Confucius deep. Guests for this show are John Finnemore and Max & Ivan.

A bit of a surprise for this probing and informative analysis of one of the country’s biggest industry’s to feature in a bill more focused on entertainment podcasts,nevertheless Benjamin Partridge’s Beef and Dairy Network Podcast is a well-researched and thoroughly engaging show that is a must-listen for anyone with even a passing interest in the production of beef animals and dairy herds.

A very exciting sounding new show from the team behind one of our favourite podcasts, the panel show Do The Right Thing. As with that excellent and and angry show, the Bad Therapy podcast brings together Michael Legge, Danielle Ward and Margaret Cabourn Smith, only instead of discussing the worst of humanity, they aim to examine one of their very favourite comedian friends to breaking point. This time it’s Tony Law.